The invention is an improved support member for use primarily as a lightweight, portable, strong, and fracture resistant tent support and the like, and method for making thereof.
There is a need for lightweight, portable, strong, and fracture resistant support structures. For example, it is desirable for tents to be as lightweight, easy to assemble and disassemble, and compact as possible when collapsed. Accordingly, the support structure must be equally portable, and lightweight, but sufficiently strong to support the tent when assembled.
Moreover, tents are now used for a wide variety of functions. For example, in addition to the typical hiking and camping functions, tents, which may be readily shaped and decorated to resemble playhouses, sports accessories, or vehicles, are now commonly used as children""s toys. Accordingly, their support structures must be particularly safe to assemble, disassemble, and use.
As shown in FIG. 1, the typical tent support structure 10 includes a plurality of hollow elongate straight sections 12, constructed typically of elongate strands of fiberglass secured and hardened together with an appropriate resin. The sections 12 each include mating end portions 14 that interconnect with each other to allow the sections 12 to be detachable secured together to form the elongate straight support structure 10. An elongate elastic element 15 may extend through the hollow core securing the sections 12 together. Known tent support structures are secured within pockets or loops 18 attached to the tent 16. The structures are then bent and held in place such that they are placed in tension, thereby supporting the tent 16.
Another form of portable tent support includes interfitting sections of metal tubular poles, such as aluminum, end-to-end. Each such section includes a mating end portion for detachably securing it with an adjacent end of another section, thereby producing the extended pole.
While these types of conventional support members are economical to manufacture, lightweight, and easy to assemble and disassemble, they have several limitations that affect their desirability, particularly when used in tents for children""s use. For example, when excessive bending force is applied to these known fiberglass supports, such as by a child falling on or throwing a heavy object onto the tent, as best shown in FIG. 2 the strands of fiberglass tend to splinter exposing shrouds 19 of fiberglass and causing an extreme safety hazard. On the other hand, known metal supports tend to bend permanently when excessive force is applied, rendering them useless.
Moreover, because the typical fiberglass support is under tension during use, known fiberglass supports have a tendency to spring back into their straight positions when the tent fails or the support is moved out of its secured position within the tent, such as when a child inadvertently plays with the support structure. The spring back motion poses a safety risk to the user, particularly to small children playing within a toy tent.
Inventors have attempted to overcome these problems by attempting to make fiberglass support structures stronger. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,175 to Pearson et al. (xe2x80x9cPearsonxe2x80x9d) discloses a fiberglass pole construction method that includes placing layers of elongate fiberglass strands in alternating directions to produce a strong hollow pole. The strands of fiberglass are held in place during manufacturing by xe2x80x9cthin lateral bands 56xe2x80x9d (See, FIG. 5 of Pearson). The bands are constructed with xe2x80x9ca fused polymeric material such as polyethylene which has a lower melting point than the glass fibers.xe2x80x9d (Pearson, col. 3, lines 48-50). The bands serve to hold the fiberglass strands aligned during the manufacturing process. The fiberglass resin is then heated during the curing process, and the bands melt away while the resin hardens.
The resulting alternating layers of orthogonally aligned fiberglass fibers in Pearson provide an essentially rigid and strong pole. However, it is not well suited for use as a tent support for at least the following reasons: First, the pole is not particularly flexible along its longitudinal length making it difficult at best to place the pole in tension to support the tent. Second, when an inadvertent breaking force is applied to the pole, shrouds of fiberglass are still exposed, causing a significant safety risk, particularly to young children. And third, it is expensive to build.
Accordingly, despite these types of improvements, there remains a need for a support structure that is strong, portable, and economical to manufacture, but also is fracture resistant and safe to assemble and use. In addition to other benefits that will become apparent in the following disclosure, the present invention fulfills these needs.
The present invention is a support structure that includes a fiberglass reinforced core portion and an elastic outer layer, which is preferably polyethylene, and a method for making there same. More preferably, the support structure may include a plurality of elongate curved sections having a hollow core, and the sections may be detachably secured together to define an assembled position and form the support member having the shape of the structure or tent they are meant to support. An elongate resilient element may extend through the hollow core securing the sections together and urging them to retain their assembled position.